Safety was the premise for Juan de la Cierva to develop the autogyro, which, with all its innovations, was the true precursor to the helicopter... as well as a magnificent aircraft.
At the beginning of the 20th century, there were still many things to develop in the world of aeronautics. In reality, almost everything was yet to come. In that context, aeronautical pioneers were developing and testing different types of aircraft to try and achieve machines that would fly ever higher, further, faster, and with greater safety.
Precisely Security was key in its conception and development of an aircraft that gyroplane. Its inventor was Juan de la Cierva, an inventor, aeronautical scientist, civil engineer, and aviator, born in Murcia (Spain) in 1895. His whole life revolved around the world of aviation to such an extent that at just 16 years old he designed and built his first aeroplane.
Precisely an accident with a fixed-wing aircraft led him to conceive of a new rotorcraft in the that safety should prevail over any other parameter. According to his idea, that aircraft could not stall because its rotating wing, whose movement is produced freely by the air passing from bottom to top, is its main source of lift. Upon descending, the faster it did so, the more rapidly the rotor blades would spin, storing energy and providing greater lift.
In 1920, successive autogyro models began to be developed, achieving their greatest success with the C30 model, of which many units were sold to various countries. It became a popular aircraft in postal services and the air forces of some countries.
Juan de la Cierva died in 1936 in a commercial aeroplane accident at Croydon Airport (United Kingdom) without seeing how several tens of The autogyro patents were fundamental to the later conception of the helicopter..
In this infographics The main characteristics of the autogyro are shown, its capabilities, and some curious facts that demonstrate the importance this invention came to have in the development of aeronautics.
